Michael Moynihan: Bessborough ruling proves that we can build anywhere

An Coimisiún Pleanála's decision to uphold planning to build apartments at Bessborough rids us of all those petty considerations like sensitivity or appropriateness, writes Michael Moynihan, who suggests other places in Cork we can build on like the River Lee, Páirc Uí Chaoimh and cemeteries

A government minister described Bessborough as not simply another development site, but 'a place forever intertwined with one of the darkest chapters in our country’s history', which is a very fair description. Picture: Jim Coughlan

Last week, An Coimisiún Pleanála upheld in large part the decision of Cork City Council to grant planning to Estuary View Enterprises for apartments at Bessborough.

That decision had been appealed to the planning body by Carmel Cantwell on behalf of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group, and by Labour Party city councillor Peter Horgan.

This latest development has been criticised by activists, politicians, and the public because it is believed that the remains of babies and young children are buried at Bessborough, and that those remains may be disturbed by any building works.

A government minister described Bessborough as not simply another development site, but “a place forever intertwined with one of the darkest chapters in our country’s history”, which is a very fair description.

For a taste of what this place means, and of the harm it did for years, just this week Donal O’Keeffe reported the observations of Bessborough survivor Terry Meyer on a burial she witnessed there decades ago: “There was a little boy with me. I don’t remember children’s names, that part I don’t remember, but we saw a baby being buried, and we got the literal you-know-what beaten out of us because we were in an area we weren’t supposed to be in.”

There seems to be a general reticence to celebrate the decision made by the planning authority last week to uphold Cork City Council’s original decision. It’s almost as if those responsible are embarrassed by that decision; I note no slew of upbeat, affirming press releases celebrating the news, no handsome CGI-generated images showing us the bright future which lies ahead here.

Of course, there’s a far more positive way to see this development. Complaining about apartments being built in a location with such horrific associations, a decision causing grief and reawakening trauma for survivors of the facility, not to mention lowering our general moral standards as a society is all very well, but that misses the point. 

In truth, such complaints are entirely misguided and needlessly critical because building at Bessborough is actually a good thing. Let me explain.

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For one thing, it rids us of all those petty considerations like sensitivity or appropriateness. The guardrails of human decency which have constrained us for so long have been cast aside, thankfully, and now we can be our best selves as we march into tomorrow.

More specifically, it also allows our local authority to consider other locations for development, locations that would previously have been off-limits. Here are a few places where Cork City Council should be granting permission for more apartments.

Shandon

Last year, a redevelopment plan for the Shandon area was announced to breathe new life into one of Cork's most historic streetscapes. 

As reported here by Sarah Horgan, the €7m investment is expected to transform the area, though — mandatory note of caution — the “work is scheduled to begin on the complex in August 2026, with an estimated completion date of February 2028”. Keep an eye out for that completion.

Why not convert the Shandon tower itself to apartments, though? Few nice one-beds right up to the clock, great views over the city, good ventilation in heatwaves thanks to the height?

Just strip out those pesky old fittings and get people in there. With any luck, the conversion of the tower can be done before the area is redeveloped, though past experience suggests holding your breath would be a mistake.

Cork City Hall

Slap bang in the middle of the city, spacious rooms, high ceilings, riverside views. Thanks to remote working there’s no need for staff to occupy that amount of real estate all the time. 

Great public-private synergies on offer, and if we were really imaginative, that public-private co-operation could be really groundbreaking. Spaces being used for offices from nine to five, residential from five to nine.

The River Lee itself

Should we be more creative with the actual river? Floating apartment blocks, looping endlessly around the North and South Channels? Call them shipartments?

Could be a couple of loopholes here in terms of planning permission because you’re not actually building but . . . floating. Depending on how far your shipartment floats you could be subject to maritime law, but we can work around that.

Along the Cork light rail line

Simply put: It’ll be a decade-plus before we see a yard of track laid down for the light rail system in Cork, so why not take advantage of that long lead-in time?

Throw up some apartment blocks along the route — as in, right across the proposed line — and then, when the time comes (around 2040) that the rail-line building work eventually approaches those apartments, charge Transport for Ireland to buy and demolish them. Win-win!

The Event Centre-Bishop Lucey Plaza

The Event Centre is the most obvious apartment location of all time, because it’s all but surrounded by apartments already on one side. 

What’s particularly exciting here is that there’s room for an overhead walkway connecting it to apartments which could be built on the Bishop Lucey Plaza, which has the advantage of course of being mostly concrete to start with.

By folding the Counting House into the new apartment plans for Bishop-Event Place, we could have a plethora of apartments. Picture: Larry Cummins

I know people may raise the issue of the old Beamish Counting House, which has been earmarked as a library, but old attachments and sentimental links count for nothing, as we learned in the last week or so. Simply fold the Counting House into the new apartment plans for Bishop-Event Place. Done.

Fitzgerald’s Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh

As I mention junking our old attachments, just how important are green spaces and sports facilities really? Could we do without them?

Because there’s a whole lot of space involved here, crying out for conversion if we’re willing to grasp the nettle and bring the concrete. 

Premium prices could be charged for a two-bed on the old 20-metre line in the Pairc. Or a studio where the City Museum used to be in the Park.

Finally: The cemeteries of Cork

Here I mean the likes of St Catherine’s, St Joseph’s, St Michael’s, St Oliver’s, St James’s, St Columba’s, Rathcooney, Carrigrohane, and so on.

This is where the new dispensation inaugurated by the Bessborough decision really comes into its own. Free of the need to treat burial places with any of that old-fashioned deference or sensitivity, we are now empowered to build on every cemetery in Cork.

Yes, the critics who never see any good in any innovation may complain; they may object on the basis that relatives of theirs are interred in those cemeteries, and that those remains could be disturbed by the proposed work.

What a selfish attitude! An Coimisiún Pleanála and Cork City Council have shown us all the way forward, the brave new world where such considerations need not delay our onward march.

After all, if it’s good enough for Bessborough, it’s good enough for all of us.